Martin Lešák

• Lešák, Martin F. (2026). Healing Old Wounds, Forging Strong Alliances: Transferring Sainte Foy’s Relics from Conques to Agen in 1879. Different Visions. 13, s. 1–34. doi: 10.61302/IRDH1805. Fulltekst i vitenarkiv Vis sammendrag

  The relics of Sainte Foy, a young third-century martyr, were transferred from Agen to the Conques Abbey in the second half of the ninth century, ultimately transforming the monastery into a renowned site of miracles. Nearly a thousand years later, the repercussions of the purported sacred theft (furtum sacrum) still echoed when the bishop of Rodez and Vabres, Joseph-Christian-Ernest Bourret, whose diocese included the Conques Abbey, sent fragments of Sainte Foy’s relics in the opposite direction, from Conques to Agen. To mark the solemn transfer of the martyr’s relics, a triumphal procession honoring Sainte Foy was held on May 25, 1879, weaving through the streets of the city, an event inherently intertwined with historical trauma. By delving into contemporary programs and reports published in the local press, the present article sheds light on the context and reception of the event, which both healed old wounds and forged strong alliances.

• Lešák, Martin F. (2025). Crossing the Jordan: From Santa Maria Maggiore to the Roman Apse Decorations. I Fingarova, Galina & Külzer, Andreas (Red.), Territories and Boundaries: Crossing Rivers in Byzantium and Beyond. Brepols. ISSN 9782503619088. s. 41–62. doi: https:/www.brepols.net/products/IS-9782503619088-1. Fulltekst i vitenarkiv Vis sammendrag

  This essay dives into the earliest representations of the crossing of the Jordan River in the monumental decorations of Rome. It first considers one of the fifth-century mosaic panels of Joshua's cycle at Santa Maria Maggiore depicting the passage of the Israelites over the Jordan. Then, it turns to the river's representation in the earliest Roman apse decorations, starting the discussion with the so-called oratory of Monte della Giustizia and concluding with the ninth-century apse mosaic of Santa Prassede. This contribution sheds light on the ways iconographies were conceived in relation to the visual tradition, theological ideas, and the rituals orchestrated in the sacred spaces.

• Lešák, Martin F. (2025). Festive Rituals at Conques in the 1870s. I Foletti, Ivan & Palladino, Adrien (Red.), Conques Across Time: Inventions and Reinventions (9th–21st Centuries). Viella. ISSN 9791254699232. s. 355–369. Fulltekst i vitenarkiv
• Foletti, Ivan; Huang, Lei & Lešák, Martin F. (2025). In the Valley: The Geographical Context and Origins of the Abbey. I Foletti, Ivan & Palladino, Adrien (Red.), Conques Across Time: Inventions and Reinventions (9th–21st Centuries). Viella. ISSN 9791254699232. s. 87–107. Fulltekst i vitenarkiv
• Lešák, Martin F. & Rosenbergová, Sabina (2025). Managing and Ritualizing the Surroundings of the Conques Abbey. I Foletti, Ivan & Palladino, Adrien (Red.), Conques Across Time: Inventions and Reinventions (9th–21st Centuries). Viella. ISSN 9791254699232. s. 123–137. Fulltekst i vitenarkiv
• Lešák, Martin F. & Racaniello, Kris N. (2025). Post-Medieval Processions and the Majesty of Sainte Foy. I Foletti, Ivan & Palladino, Adrien (Red.), Conques Across Time: Inventions and Reinventions (9th–21st Centuries). Viella. ISSN 9791254699232. s. 351–354. Fulltekst i vitenarkiv
• Foletti, Ivan & Lešák, Martin F. (2024). Du désert au Paradis: Conques et son environnement prémoderne. Les Cahiers de Saint-Michel de Cuxa. ISSN 1140-7530. LV, s. 5–12. Fulltekst i vitenarkiv
• Foletti, Ivan & Lešák, Martin F. (2023). Hidden Treasure and Precious Pearl: Sant'Agnese fuori le mura, its Apse Mosaic, and the Experience of Liturgy. I Scirocco, Elisabetta & Blaauw, Sible De (Red.), From Words to Space: Textual Sources for Reconstructing and Understanding Medieval Sacred Spaces. Campisano editore. ISSN 9791280956200. s. 75–96. Fulltekst i vitenarkiv
• Lešák, Martin F. (2023). The ‘Glorious Traveler’: St Foy´s Triumphal March from Rodez to Conques or the Liturgical Afterlife of Two Medieval Reliquaries. Convivium: Exchanges and Interactions in the Arts of Medieval Europe, Byzantium, and the Mediterranean. ISSN 2336-3452. s. 42–63. doi: 10.1484/M.CONVISUP-EB.5.137360. Fulltekst i vitenarkiv
• Lešák, Martin F. (2022). Santa Maria Maggiore v pozdní antice. Prostor jako stvořený pro stacionární liturgii? I Horáková, Tereza & Řezníčková, Veronika (Red.), Zadání, umělecká úloha a funkce v architektuře a ve výtvarném umění. Books & Pipes. s. 177–193. Fulltekst i vitenarkiv
• Lešák, Martin F. (2022). Transforming a Desert, Claiming the Domain: The Early Medieval Landscape of Conques. Convivium: Exchanges and Interactions in the Arts of Medieval Europe, Byzantium, and the Mediterranean. ISSN 2336-3452. IX(1), s. 148–167. doi: 10.1484/J.CONVI.5.131650. Fulltekst i vitenarkiv
• Foletti, Ivan & Lešák, Martin F. (2022). Reconsidering ‘Romanesque’ Art Through the Pilgrim’s Body: The Migrating Art Historians Project Five Years Later. Peregrinations. VIII(2), s. 43–67. Fulltekst i vitenarkiv
• Lešák, Martin F. (2020). Stational Liturgy and Local History: Leo III’s Apse Mosaic at Santa Susanna. Convivium: Exchanges and Interactions in the Arts of Medieval Europe, Byzantium, and the Mediterranean. ISSN 2336-3452. s. 154–175. doi: 10.1484/M.CONVISUP-EB.5.130990. Fulltekst i vitenarkiv
• Lešák, Martin F. (2020). Holy Monday at the Santa Prassede: Stational Liturgy and Paschal I’s Mosaic Decoration. I Lešák, Martin F.; Rosenbergová, Sabina & Tvrzníková, Veronika (Red.), Step by Step Towards the Sacred. Ritual, Movement, and Visual Culture in the Middle Ages. Viella. ISSN 9788833137018. s. 81–106. Fulltekst i vitenarkiv
• Belting, Hans; Foletti, Ivan & Lešák, Martin F. (2019). The Movement and the Experience of ‘Iconic Presence’: An Introduction. Convivium: Exchanges and Interactions in the Arts of Medieval Europe, Byzantium, and the Mediterranean. ISSN 2336-3452. VI(1), s. 11–15. doi: 10.1484/J.CONVI.4.2019021. Fulltekst i vitenarkiv
• Lešák, Martin F. (2019). Sacred Architecture and the Voice of Bells in the Medieval Landscape. With the Case Study of Mont-Saint-Michel. Convivium: Exchanges and Interactions in the Arts of Medieval Europe, Byzantium, and the Mediterranean. ISSN 2336-3452. VI(1), s. 48–67. doi: 10.1484/J.CONVI.4.2019023. Fulltekst i vitenarkiv
• Lešák, Martin F. (2018). Prayers and Protection: The Tower at Torba Reconsidered. Arte Lombarda. ISSN 0004-3443. CLXXXII (1–2), s. 5–19. doi: 10.26350/666112_000008. Fulltekst i vitenarkiv

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• Foletti, Ivan; Lešák, Martin F. & Palladino, Adrien (2022). Dynamics of Medieval Landscape: Cultural Shaping of the Environment. Brepols. ISBN 9782503597461. 188 s. Fulltekst i vitenarkiv
• Lešák, Martin F.; Rosenbergová, Sabina & Tvrzníková, Veronika (2020). Step by Step Towards the Sacred. Ritual, Movement, and Visual Culture in the Middle Ages. Viella. ISBN 9788833137018. 144 s. Fulltekst i vitenarkiv
• Belting, Hans; Foletti, Ivan & Lešák, Martin F. (2019). Movement, Images and Iconic Presence in the Medieval World. Brepols. ISBN 9782503582597. 167 s. Fulltekst i vitenarkiv

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• Lešák, Martin F. (2026). Journey North: Norwegian Scholars in Cividale del Friuli. Fulltekst i vitenarkiv Vis sammendrag

  What is the story behind a poster above the library door at the Norwegian Institute in Rome announcing a public lecture that Hans Peter L‘Orange delivered on the Tempietto Longobardo in Cividale del Friuli in 1952? What connected Norwegian scholars to the small Friulian town of Cividale, once the capital of the Lombard Kingdom? Curious to find out, I boarded an overnight train from Rome to Cividale and spent a week exploring the archives of the city as well as nearby Udine.

• Lešák, Martin F. (2026). The Forum Romanum and the Stational Liturgy in the Early Middle Ages. Fulltekst i vitenarkiv Vis sammendrag

  After the Roman Empire’s adoption of Christianity in the fourth century AD, the Forum Romanum – the traditional heart of the city’s civic life – only gradually transformed, as churches such as Santi Cosma e Damiano and Sant’Adriano were established within its ancient fabric. This paper will examine how the Forum was utilized within the papal stational liturgy, a ritual practice that shaped the early medieval cityscape of Rome through processions, prayers, and religious gatherings scheduled on specific days in designated churches throughout the liturgical annual cycle. By focusing on the stations held at the Forum and the processional routes that led through it, this contribution will explore how Christian worship engaged with a space laden with imperial, civic, and sacred memory.

• Lešák, Martin F. (2026). Where is the Pope on Sunday!? Fermentum and Stational Practice in Late Antique Rome. Fulltekst i vitenarkiv
• Lamers, Han; Michelloni, Manuela; Lešák, Martin F. & Kendall, Virginia Grace (2026). Unlocking the Archives of the Norwegian Institute in Rome. Fulltekst i vitenarkiv
• Lešák, Martin F. (2026). In Search of the Possible: Gregory the Great and the Stational Liturgy in Rome. Fulltekst i vitenarkiv
• Lešák, Martin F. (2026). (Re)ordering Space: A Case of Stational Liturgy in Rome. Fulltekst i vitenarkiv
• Myking, Synnøve Midtbø & Lešák, Martin F. (2025). Exploring Rome’s Christian visual language - The Norwegian Institute in Rome. Fulltekst i vitenarkiv Vis sammendrag

  Art historian Martin Lešák, the Norwegian Institute’s most recently arrived postdoc, will spend the next few years delving into the interaction between liturgy and visual decorations in Rome’s churches.

• Myking, Synnøve Midtbø & Lešák, Martin F. (2025). På oppdagingsferd i Romas kristne visuelle språk - Det norske institutt i Roma. Fulltekst i vitenarkiv Vis sammendrag

  Kunsthistorikar Martin Lešák, den nyaste postdoktoren på Det norske instituttet, skal bruka dei neste åra på å fordjupa seg i samspelet mellom liturgi og utsmykkingar i romerske kyrkjer. 

• Lešák, Martin F. (2025). Těžba, dražba, politika. Nový život středověkých iluminací kutnohorského dolování stříbra. Re:vize. ISSN 3029-5653. 7–8, s. 33–35. doi: https:/www.revize-casopis.cz/vsechny-clanky/lokal/tezba-drazba-politika/. Fulltekst i vitenarkiv
• Lešák, Martin F. (2025). Siluety, zvony a čas. Poutníci v krajině a mimo ni. Re:vize. ISSN 3029-5653. 11–12, s. 51–53. doi: https:/www.revize-casopis.cz/vsechny-clanky/minor/siluety-zvony-a-cas/. Fulltekst i vitenarkiv
• Lešák, Martin F. (2025). The Image-Shaping Power of Liturgy: Two Case Studies from 9th-Century Rome. doi: https:/sabkmuenchen.com/2024/12/13/vortrag-von-dr-martin-lesak/. Fulltekst i vitenarkiv
• Lešák, Martin F. (2025). Silver Mining, Art and Landscape at the end of the Middle Ages. Fulltekst i vitenarkiv
• Lešák, Martin F. (2025). The Image-Shaping Power of Liturgy: Santa Sussana in Rome Across Centuries. doi: https:/www.hf.uio.no/dnir/english/research/news-and-events/events/2025/circolo-gianicolense%2015May25.html. Fulltekst i vitenarkiv
• Lešák, Martin F. (2025). Ritual Space and Prospection: The Ninth-Century Mosaics in Rome Through a Liturgical Lens. Fulltekst i vitenarkiv
• Lešák, Martin F. & Cigaina, Lorenzo (2025). Gli altari ‘in medio’ di Roma alla luce delle fonti archeologiche e liturgiche. doi: https:/www.dainst.org/veranstaltungen/noslug/345. Fulltekst i vitenarkiv
• Lešák, Martin F. (2025). A Failed Experiment? The Old Testament Cycle at Santa Maria Maggiore and the Early Medieval Liturgy. Fulltekst i vitenarkiv
• Lešák, Martin F. (2025). Exploring New Paths for Art History: Ritual Processions and Medieval Reliquaries from Conques. doi: https:/www.hf.uio.no/ifikk/english/research/news-and-events/events/conferences/2025/150-years-of-art-history.html. Fulltekst i vitenarkiv

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